TCM Bob Schedule for November

Not a lot of Bob offered up on TCM for November, but they are showing a Joel & Garda mini-marathon. For those who don't know, Joel & Garda Sloane are similar to Nick & Nora Charles in their detective ways, but there's less booze and no dog. Can you say DVD box set?

Check your local listings for your time zone.

November 29
3 p.m. Fast Company (1938)
Married book-dealers Joel and Garda Sloane try to clear a friend in the murder of a rival book-seller . Cast: Melvyn Douglas, Florence Rice, Louis Calhern. Dir: Edward Buzzell

4:30 p.m. Fast And Loose (1939)
Married book-dealers Joel and Garda Sloane investigate the killing of a noted collector. Cast: Robert Montgomery, Rosalind Russell, Reginald Owen. Dir: Edwin L. Marin

6 p.m. Fast And Furious (1939)
Married book-dealers Joel and Garda Sloane get mixed up with murder during a beauty pageant . Cast: Franchot Tone, Ann Sothern, Ruth Hussey. Dir: Busby Berkeley

Photo Friday - Quick Starts and Fast Flow

Only in marketing can you have engine performance, oil, movies, and Robert Taylor come together. This particular handout came from Elsmer A. Guse's Standard Oil Dealership in Mayville, WI. Thank you, Elsmer.

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Ride The Pink Horse - Radio Style

Hop aboard the rickety merry go round with this Lux Radio Theater presentation of Ride The Pink Horse from Dec. 8, 1947. The film is one of my favorites and this radio version is just as good. Carrying over from the film version is Robert Montgomery as Lucky Gagin, Wanda Hendrix as Pila, and Thomas Gomez as Pancho.

27 MB MP3 - 1 hour

And if you think you hear a touch of Fred Flintstone in Frank Hugo's voice, you're not far off. Hugo is played by Alan Reed, voice of the lovable Fred.

Photo Friday: Lovers Courageous

Some marriage proposals are made over a romantic dinner. In this case, Mary (Madge Evans) busts into Willie's bedroom and proposes right there in this scene from 1932's Lovers Courageous.

"If you say another word I'll pop into that bed right now"

TCM 2.0

TCM.com has joined the social networking bandwagon (aka web 2.0). The site is now accepting images, video, comments, and reviews from visitors for their massive movie database.

Of note, there's additional content up now for Robert Montgomery: behind-the scenes photos for They Were Expendable and Private Lives, trailers, film clips, and a few misc. photos the size of a postage stamp. I particularly enjoyed the Private Lives pics, but could do without the phantom watermarks.

Misc. News

Der Bingle is now on the Internet with a new web site at BingCrosby.com. A beautiful site with some neat audio features.

And from the DVD world, word that the Joan Crawford Collection Vol. 2 is coming out in February. As reported on TheDigitalBits.com: "The 5-disc set will include A Woman's Face, Flamingo Road, Sadie McKee, Strange Cargo and Torch Song, along with bonus features set to include new featurettes, radio shows, vintage short subjects, trailers and more."

Photo Friday: Cocktails With Bob & Franchot

Continuing on the mixed drinks theme this week, today's photo is of Bob & Franchot Tone, from 1935's No More Ladies. Bob seems to be holding a mixer of radioactive material (actually, it was edited for print, but the isotope thing sounds like more fun).

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Can We Forget

Today's radio show is a presentation of The Gulf Screen Guild Theater from January 22, 1939. Can We Forget stars Robert Montgomery, Bette Davis, Basil Rathbone, Louise Beavers, George Murphy as MC, and is directed by Frank Capra. It's the story of loss and a voice from the past. I'll leave the rest of the story to you.

30 Min - MP3 6.8 MB

Bette is excellent in this story - and it takes a lot for me to say that since I've never been a big fan of hers.

Cocktails With Walter

The thought of getting a mixed drink from a bottle scares me a bit, but apparently it didn't bother Walter Pidgeon enough for this mid 60s ad for Heublein Cocktails.

For those of you playing at home, one version of the Manhattan:

3/4 oz sweet vermouth
2 1/2 oz bourbon whiskey
1 dash Angostura® bitters
1 maraschino cherry
1 twist orange peel

I'm partial to Brandy Old Fashioned Sweets myself...

Photo Friday - This is Joan Crawford

Here's an interesting one today - a clipping from Spot Magazine, which I'm assuming was something along the lines of a Maxim magazine of the 1940s.

Joan Crawford is playing the unsympathetic role of a horribly disfigured woman in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s “A Woman’s Face.” SPOT salutes her because she is a beautiful actress who would rather be an actress than a beauty. The studio hasn’t release pictures of Miss Crawford in character, but we present our conception of how she’ll look as a scarred extortioner.

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Just Joan to You

I just fell in love with this letter, for sale on ebay now. From Joan to Bob...

My Client Curley

Good news for you OTR fans out there. I've been able to dig up more Robert Montgomery radio shows, which I'll be listing here in the next few weeks.

Today's selection is My Client Curley from The Screen Guild Theater, presented February 2, 1946. Bob is a promoter who's client is a dancing caterpillar. I'm not kidding. It's a cute story with a nice change of pace.

MP3 - 30 minutes (6.7 MB)

The storyline is also the premise of Cary Grant's Once Upon a Time.

TCM Bob Schedule for October

As always, check your local listings for exact start time for your time zone. Nothing against Mr. Jordan, but the last two are always a treat to watch.

21 Sunday
8 p.m. Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
A prizefighter who died before his time is reincarnated as a tycoon with a murderous wife. Cast: Robert Montgomery, Evelyn Keyes, Claude Rains. Dir: Alexander Hall

22 Monday
6 a.m. No More Ladies (1935)
A society girl tries to reform her playboy husband by making him jealous. Cast: Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, Charlie Ruggles. Dir: Edward H. Griffith

25 Thursday
8 a.m. Hide-Out (1934)
Farmers take in an injured racketeer and try to reform him. Cast: Robert Montgomery, Maureen O'Sullivan, Mickey Rooney. Dir: W.S. Van Dyke II